Caught in an emerging market storm, some resource-rich states may keep more windfall income in liquid assets, ready to aid their economies, rather than locked up in strategic investment for future generations.
Kazakhstan’s move last week to dip into its National Fund to slash banks’ bad loans and - to some extent - Russia’s plan to tap into its wealth fund to bail out Ukraine reduce a potential pool of funds that otherwise could have been invested in capital-heavy projects such as infrastructure………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund is looking to more than double the number of industry specialists in its equities team as the $840bn Norwegian oil fund steps up efforts to outperform global stock markets. Norway’s oil fund is one of the world’s biggest equity investors, owning on average 1.25 per cent of every listed company globally.
Giving a rare insight into the inner workings of the oil fund, Petter Johnsen, its chief investment officer for equities, told the Financial Times he was looking to bulk up the number of portfolio managers that follow specific sectors such as US banks or European insurers………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A group of Australian NGOs is urging the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund to divest from a controversial new mining project in northwest NSW. The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund has an estimated $7 million invested in Whitehaven Coal, the company behind the Maules Creek Mine, Australia’s largest greenfield mining project which has been the target of a high profile opposition campaign by local farmers, traditional owners and environmentalists.
The fund controls over $910 billion, owning approximately 1 per cent of the world’s stocks………………………………………..Full Article: Source

1Malaysia Development Bhd’s failure to file its audited accounts for the financial year ending March 2013 with the regulators raises questions over its commitment to transparency in corporate reporting, Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) said today.
1Malaysia Development Bhd, or 1MDB, is a government sovereign wealth fund. The anti-graft watchdog said in a statement that corporate activities should be reported in a timely manner, and must show accountability, accuracy and completeness in its records………………………………………..Full Article: Source

At about $64 billion (2013), the sovereign wealth funds managed through the Korea Investment Corporation is among the smaller funds. As a member of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds, the KIC shares certain characteristics with the larger SWFs, grounded on the GAAP of the Santiago Principles.
The KIC is also a relatively new fund. It was established in 2005 under the Korean Investment Corporation (KIC) Act No. 7393 (2005) as a non-commodity fund; or better put, as a government owned investment management company that specializes in overseas investment (Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, South Korea)………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek, IDFC Alternatives among other private investors in GMR Energy are swapping bulk of their investment in the firm with a stake in the listed parent GMR Infrastructure, as per a stock market disclosure.
This comes at a time when GMR Energy is looking to float an IPO. However, the primary market in the country is not conducive for fresh issues, partly due to outflows from emerging markets. These investors had put in Rs 1,395 crore in GMR Energy through Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) in 2010………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Mozambican government does not, at least in the short term, intend to use money from natural resources to set up a sovereign wealth fund, Finance Minister Manuel Chang said.
Asked by the independent television station STV what the government would do with the latest capital gains tax paid on the sale of assets in the Rovuma Basin, off the coast of the northern province of Cabo Delgado, where enormous natural gas deposits have been discovered. Chang said the first priority was to clear the Value Added Tax (VAT) rebates which the government owes companies………………………………………..Full Article: Source